variants or meagre

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective meager differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of meager are scanty, scant, skimpy, spare, and sparse. While all these words mean "falling short of what is normal, necessary, or desirable," meager implies the absence of elements, qualities, or numbers necessary to a thing's richness, substance, or potency.

a meager portion of meat

When is scant a more appropriate choice than meager?

The synonyms scant and meager are sometimes interchangeable, but scant suggests a falling short of what is desired or desirable rather than of what is essential.

in January the daylight hours are scant

When would scanty be a good substitute for meager?

The words scanty and meager can be used in similar contexts, but scanty stresses insufficiency in amount, quantity, or extent.

supplies too scanty to last the winter

When can skimpy be used instead of meager?

While in some cases nearly identical to meager, skimpy usually suggests niggardliness or penury as the cause of the deficiency.

tacky housing developments on skimpy lots

When might spare be a better fit than meager?

The meanings of spare and meager largely overlap; however, spare may suggest a slight falling short of adequacy or merely an absence of superfluity.

a spare, concise style of writing

In what contexts can sparse take the place of meager?

The words sparse and meager are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, sparse implies a thin scattering of units.

a sparse population

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of meager Like countless Americans with meager resources, options were limited. Arick Wierson, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025 Since relatively little lives or grows in their caves, the fish are likely surviving on a meager diet of mostly bat feces and organic waste that washes in during the rainy season. ArsTechnica, 25 Aug. 2025 Still, revenue growth has been meager since the end of the pandemic and is expected to remain around 3% annually for at least the next two years. Bloomberg, Mercury News, 22 Aug. 2025 By then, Vila, despite his meager paycheck, was a bona fide star. Mark Gray, People.com, 22 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for meager
Recent Examples of Synonyms for meager
Adjective
  • All these people took advantage of the sheep population, but a remnant of the herd remained among the rocky crags of the San Andres, where grass is sparse and water rare.
    Tim Kelly, Outdoor Life, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Details surrounding the episode were initially sparse.
    Nathan Pilling, Kansas City Star, 4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Treat storage as a scarce public good.
    Phil De Luna, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Water is scarce, rationed to just three hours a day in some districts, and packs of stray dogs roam the city.
    Yegor Mostovshikov, The Dial, 9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • But prorating three years of player profits down to 12 months, as UEFA’s rule does, reduces the immediate efficacy of successful trading in the market, the very strategy that poorer clubs increasingly rely on to climb the ladder.
    Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Like most extended car warranty providers, CarShield excludes pre-existing conditions that existed before your warranty took effect, as well as damage resulting from poor maintenance, neglect or intentional abuse.
    Brian Sloan, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Meager.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/meager. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.

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